The Obama administration released its new budget this morning and despite the large federal budget deficit it contains new money for Early Head Start, child care subsidies and other incentives for early learning, interest groups reported.
Two of the nation’s biggest early learning programs, Head Start and Early Start, would receive a total increase of $989 million in fiscal 2011 over last year’s level, according to Zero to Three. It should be interesting to watch the Congressional reaction to that request, since Head Start was criticized last month in a federal report.
In the hopeful thinking department, Obama also wants $625 million for his Early Learning Challenge Fund, even though legislation that would create that fund remains stuck in the Senate.
It wasn’t all about raises, however, because Obama proposed freezing funding for Part C Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers at $440 million, the interest group said. (Check out Zero to Three’s Facebook page to read the details of this handy summary.)
Obama already told the nation last week that he wants to nearly double the child care tax credit and add more money to the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. Zero to Three breaks it down this way:
An increase of $800 million (and an additional $11 billion over ten years) in mandatory Child Care and Development Funds to allow states to provide child care subsidies to additional working families. In addition, another increase of $800 million is proposed to provide quality improvements through the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). Total funding for CCDBG under this proposal would equal $2.927 billion, $137 million of which is targeted for improving the quality of infant-toddler care. – “Breaking News for Babies: President Requests Increased Funding for Key Infant-Toddler Services.”
We are still learning about the president’s new fiscal blueprint, but you can start here:
Stay tuned because CLASP and the National Women’s Law Center will host a conference call Wednesday entitled “The President’s Budget Proposal: Opportunities and Challenges for Early Childhood Programs.”